Scott and Tammy blog

Vancouver, Canada

2010-10-19T22:54:00.003-06:00

So as many of you know, Scott and I went to Canada in August. Unfortunately, our computer crashed, and we don't have the pictures any more of our trip. Trust me when I say it is so worth the trip.

We flew into Seattle, WA, and did some things there, and we also hooked up with our old roomies, Brian and Amy Clark. They are so awesome! They have 5 wonderful kids and are just as fun to hang with now as they were then.

We then drove into Vancouver which is about a 2 1/2 hour drive, (especially when you have a 2 month old that you need to stop and feed). Scott had a stat geek convention, or I guess it was really the SAS convention, but all the people look very similar. While we were there, we stayed in a fabulous hotel, which was only a few blocks away from the convention center. Every morning Scott would get up and go to his classes. Ainsley and I would get up and walk the city. (We avoided the streets that had the gay pride parade going on). We walked down to Gastown which had a very cool steaming clock. Another day, Ainsley and I walked to Chinatown, which is kinda in a scary part of town. There we were able to see the worlds thinnest building. I went again the next day with Scott and his co-worker, Russel, and they were shocked that I had dared to go by myself with Ainsley. ( I did this only because I didn't know how scary it would be until I was in the area. There are a lot of dirty bums in this area).

Scott and I also went to Stansbury park, this park is a definite must see. There is the aquarium, totem poles, swimming pools, beaches, restaurants, and much more. I recommend eating at the tea house. It was a little pricey, but eating outside on the patio in the evening is a definite must see. We had the most beautiful sun set to watch. The food was very pretty and was actually pretty tasty. We took a picture of our desert,(to make Kristin jealous, but when our computer crashed, bye, bye pictures). Of course since I was traveling with Scott, we also geo-cached. We were able to see a lot of neat things looking for these hidden treasures.

In case you are wondering, Ainsley was a fabulous traveling partner. She slept a lot, didn't complain for the most part when we were walking about. The worst part about traveling with her, is that so many people would stop and admire her when ever we took her out of her stroller/ car seat.

Hailey's Dance Recital

2010-06-28T19:12:00.003-06:00

After watching her cousins and best friends dance recital at Christmas, Hailey decided that she also wanted to take dance lessons. We asked our neighbor, who just so happens to teach were the cousins all take lessons to find out if there was any openings. The class Hailey ended up in was one that another girl had dropped out of after a costume had already been purchased for her. So Hailey started dance the last week in February. She loved it! She would try to practice at home all the time, especially after she got her music.

The night of the recital, Hailey did just fantastic! She knew both of her dances very well. It was so fun watching her. She seemed to know her dances very well. Hard to believe she had only been doing it for a few months.

The night of the recital we were all hoping we didn't get rained out. It was a little touch and go for a little while, but other than a few drops, it turned out OK.

All the little cousins did a great job and had a good time, watching and supporting each other. We were so glad Kristin thought to bring flowers for all the little cousins. Hailey loved her flowers! We all loved to watch them all perform.
Jeffrey is just glad all the singing and dancing sister is over (for now) - 12 year old brothers, what are you going to do?

Welcome Ainsley!!

2010-05-27T13:59:00.007-06:00

So for all those who haven't heard, we recently welcomed little (and I do mean little) Ainsley to our family. She only weighed in at 5 lbs. and was 18 inches long. Thank goodness she was so little as we had her without any drugs (not by choice). On the morning she was born, I had contractions between 7-10 minutes apart for about 4 hours. Then they slowed down and were only coming about every 30 minutes apart. So I sent Scott on to work and told him that I would call him if I needed him. About 1:30, I tried to call my doctor's office, since they were getting strong again and I wanted to know whether I should go into the hospital or to stop by his office and see how far along I was. No one answered the nurses line, so I called back an hour later. I was told to keep track for an hour and if they remained strong, and I could get there before 4 then they would check me. Well, an hour later, I was in a lot of pain, but it was now time to get the kids home from school. Scott called his sister and asked her to pick up Jeff and Hailey and bring them home for me. By that time it was now 3:45 and I figured that I wouldn't be able to get there in time to see the doctor. Scott showed up about 4:45 and we decided to feed the kids dinner and then go in. So Scott made dinner and I went and laid down. After a while, I started feeling guilty, I could tell Scott was stressed out trying to get the kids to help with dinner, set the table, and get sleeping bags and clothes for the next day for all the kids, so I got up to help him. We ate dinner and then took the kids to Ryan and Penny's house, just in case we were spending the night. I stayed in the car while Scott took everything in, including car seats. When we arrived to the hospital it was now 7:30, Scott was talking to Jason on the phone asking him to water our garden. I was stopping every couple of minutes to try and get through the contractions. While we were checking in, I was bending over in pain and crying, so they sent me into the trauma room to change and then they would check me. While the CNA was checking my blood pressure, I had a contraction and my water broke. The RN came in to check me and I told her that I wanted to go to the bathroom. She told me no and then asked Scott to go out and ask for a kit and to call the doctor. She was afraid that we wouldn't be able to make it into the labor and delivery room. Dr. England called back and asked if he should be running red lights, the nurse said YES! Then she made the decision to try and get me into the labor and delivery room since it was a lot bigger room. They (4 nurses) pushed me on the bed down the hall and into the room. When we got there, the RN was too afraid that I wouldn't be able to transfer beds, so they pushed the bed aside and then she told me that although she would prefer me to wait until the doctor arrived, she had delivered baby's before so if I felt the need to push, then to go ahead. A couple minutes later, Ainsley was born. Time, 7:57. Dr. England walked in about 5 minutes later.

About 8:15, Scott called Jason back to tell him the news. He didn't believe that we had already had her, even when Scott sent him pictures. He also asked Jason to go to our house and get the phone charger so that he could call the rest of his family. When Scott called his Mom (on vacation in New Orleans), she didn't believe him either. Then he called his Dad, I don't know why everyone didn't believe him. When he called Kristin, he asked her how she did at weight watchers and then told her that I had lost 5 lbs.

The next day, Hailey chewed out the pharmacist (who she thought was my Dr. for not being there). When I saw Dr. England, I told him about it, he told me that he was at the hospital within 7 minutes.

All in all a very memorable and eventful experience! We are just happy to have her here with us to complete our eternal family! Everyone happy, healthy and well!

What's going on in Jeffrey's life

2010-04-20T10:04:00.004-06:00

So much has been going on lately that we have neglected to do a blog lately. Jeffrey is now 12 years old and recently received the priesthood. This event for me was both kind of a happy and sad moment. Happy because I was excited for him to receive it finally and sad because this means that he is no longer my little boy.

He is also going to be getting his star in scouts in a couple of weeks. Scott told me that he worries that people might think that Jeffrey only is this far along because Scott was his scoutmaster, but if anything it made it harder to have Scott as scoutmaster. When Scott did Jeffrey's scoutmaster conference, he made Jeffrey write down and type his own goals. He didn't make anyone else do this. Jeffrey just always goes to scouts and we as his parents follow up on any homework that he needs to complete.

Jeffrey is also going to be testing for his high red belt on May 1st. Hopefully he is ready. His teacher says that he is, so we will see. Now Jeffrey just wishes that he would start growing. He hates being the smallest person in his class. Most people that don't know him think that he is only about 8 years old.

Jeffrey's school class also recently did A Midsummer's night's dream. Jeffrey got to play the part of Puck. He did fantastic! He was one of the few kids that you could actually hear. When I find the camera, I will add some pictures.

I know that this doesn't have anything to do with Jeffrey, but FYI the baby is due in less than 5 weeks. We still don't have a name picked out for her, in fact, the paper that we had been writing down names has gotten lost. Any suggestions?

Has anyone seen the gingerbread man?

2010-01-11T09:32:00.002-07:00

Be on the look out for a run away gingerbread man. Hailey's kindergarten class has scared the gingerbread man away. They have looked all over the school for him, he is not any where. When Hailey got home from school the other day, she wanted to go wander the neighborhood looking for him. She even had me help her write a letter of apology to the gingerbread man, hoping that would make him return. Nothing seems to have worked.

Her teacher is using the escaped gingerbread man to lead into her world section. She has asked us parents to ask people out of the state or around the world to send post cards to her class saying that they have seen the gingerbread man in their area. When she gets the cards, she will go to the world map and point out the place. We asked Kristin to ask Bonnie, and also Scott asked to his co-worker to ask his son who is currently serving.

Hailey talks about the gingerbread man so much that Jeffrey is sick of it and tells her all the time that there is no such thing, and to quite looking for him. Oh well, I guess we will see how it goes.

Good luck gingerbread man, where ever you are.

Merry Christmas Everyone!!!

2009-12-24T17:08:00.005-07:00

Merry Christmas everyone! We hope that many of you did not have to stay up too late wrapping presents. Our kids are so excited to unwrap presents, we will have to post their fav's later.

Our kids have now watched "Curious George, A very monkey Christmas" about 15 times. I guess this is now their favorite Christmas movie is.

Jeffrey took his tae kwon do test on Monday. He now has his red belt. Hopefully with a lot of hard work, he can be a black belt in the next year or so. It still boggles my mind that he is almost 12 years old now and will be passing the sacrament in just 3 short months.

Hailey is super excited for Christmas. She has sung the song she learned at school, Christmas is a time to..., to just about everyone she has seen, whether they were willing to listen to her or not. She has also told everyone that Santa will be bringing her a butterfly sled. Hopefully the Big Guy doesn't let her down.

You'll have to ask the kids what they all got for Christmas. They are very excited about everything.

Also, you'll have to see the mothers ring Tammy got from Santa Claus. I have it on good authority that Santa uses a little elf named LaMont to do all his jewelry work. The ring has a stone for each of the kids in their birthmonth; Jeffrey (March) Aquamarine, Hailey (June) Alexandrite, Caleb (August) Peridot, and a 4th stone, hopefully Emerald, should be placed in the ring around the month of May. You'll have to call for the details and ask the kids if they are getting a brother or sister.

Well, we hope everyone is having a good Christmas - now its time for me to go to bed before the Big Guy catches me still awake.

What have we been up to lately?

2009-12-11T22:13:00.011-07:00

So before all this snow came down, there were actually some nice days to be had in the last few weeks. I thought I might share what we have been up to during that time. We spent the Thanksgiving holiday with several of Tammy's siblings out in the Uintah Basin. This picture was taken at Sherry and Dex's house just after Thanksgiving dinner. The kids loved to run around outside and it was very difficult to get them all together for this picture. It was obviously very bright and sunny outside. What I wouldn't give for another one of those days!

Jeffrey has gotten to be a real photography enthusiast. He went up exploring in the hills behind Sherry and Dex's house on Thanksgiving and took some pictures. There were really some pretty good pictures and scenery to be seen. This is a reservior and hill near Altamont where they live. Dex takes care of the reservior and surrounding area there.

After Thanksgiving, we had the opportunity to go on a Christmas tree hunt excursion up Nine-mile canyon. And in case you are ever in the area and want to explore Nine mile, don't be fooled by the name --- its actually more like 60 miles and on a dirt road. But great scenery to see when you have a day to waste.

We only went up about 5 miles into the canyon to search for our tree. Then we probably hiked another 5 miles or so (maybe I'm exaggerating a little) thru the hills and around the brush to find the perfect tree. The perfect tree was right by the road, and we could have been in and out in probably 5 minutes, but you can't do a tree hunt unless you actually hunt, Can you?
Jeffrey had to find (his) tree. I got to carry a sleeping Caleb up and down the hills, trying to keep up with Jeffrey. Once he found the tree he wanted, we had to get back to the group and back to the truck to get the chainsaw. And since he wanted to get the far away tree, I had him carry the chainsaw most of the way back to the spot. Would have been nice to have my GPS and marked the spot so we could have found it again easier. But it was an experience.

Back to the truck with the tree. Everyone still happy and awake! Dex cut down a couple more for himself, and a small one for grandmas house. Not bad all in all for $10/tree permit!
Good thing we have a fake tree we use most years, because cutting down and setting up a real tree is a lot of work! But I guess everyone has got to do the real tree the right way (cutting it down yourself) some time in their life!

Back to work, additional Christmas preparations continue. Santa Claus makes it a point to stop by my work each year, and the kids get to take advantage of seeing him every year and getting some good pictures! And no lines! As you can see, Caleb still isn't to happy to see him yet.

Hailey on the other hand just loves Santa! Not sure what all she asked for .... something about a butterfly sled or something. I think by next year she'll be asking for her 2 front teeth. As you can see, she lost her first tooth recently.

She was really excited to loose her first tooth. Happened just after Thanksgiving while we were still out visiting family in Myton. I had forgotten how small those teeth can be. The tooth fairy came and left her $1.00! Seems the tough economy doesn't affect the tooth fairy at all!

Caleb had a ball at grandmas. I think all the kids spent the entire weekend watching and rewatching Up! Caleb also loved to play with cousins and be just generally happy! A good age (sometimes)

Except at night lately. Jeffrey has been the good older brother and try to deal with Caleb when he doesn't want to go to bed yet. This is a scene that has been a little more common in our house at night. Jeffrey reading a book to Caleb in his crib before bedtime. He even lays down with him sometimes in the crib to get him to go to sleep. Some things only big brothers can do!

Do I have a big butt?

2009-11-23T08:30:00.004-07:00

So Scott had a service project on Saturday morning. His scout's were to meet at a park and clean it. He decided to buy donuts since it was cold and early in the morning. Unfortunately, only Jeffrey and one other boy showed up. He ended up bringing about 8 donuts home. I haven't had a donut in about 2 years, and it started calling to me. So I had one when Hailey and Caleb had one. Now Hailey is worried that she is going to be FAT from eating one donut. She also told me that I was going to be fat from eating one donut. I tried to explain that eating one every once in a while wouldn't hurt, but she is still concerned.

She has told both Scott and I that we have big buts. Where is my 5 year old getting this obsession about being skinny. Maybe I need to stop watching Biggest Loser. Who knows what goes on in a 5 year old's mind.

Its The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown!

2009-10-17T23:30:00.016-06:00

Ouch! My back is still in pain! At least when Charlie Brown and Linus went out to the pumpkin patch they didn't have to haul the thing around! Sometimes sitting around and waiting but never actually getting what you wish for has its benefits. Be grateful Linus!
I'll have to admit it was quite an eye opening (and back breaking) experience being exposed to the world of giant pumpkins and giant pumpkin growers. I'll have to remember to keep a pallet around and make friends with someone with a forklift if I attempt this again. But we still have kids stopping by our house asking if the pumpkin is real and where we got it. As you can see from the pictures, the largest one weighed in officially at 392.5 lbs. The one Jason adopted was also quite large and unique in shape and weighed 257.5 lbs.

The kids have really taken to the pumpkin as if it were another sibling. Its certainly a bit quieter than the other 3 kids. Just not quite as cute or as active. But quite a bit heavier! I think it might weigh more than the whole family combined!

Do you think we ought to use this as our family Christmas card this year? Maybe we should have made a giant santa hat for the pumpkin. If only I would have thought about it sooner. I guess its not too late.

One of the many times we had to transport the pumpkin. We were grateful to have helpful strong neighbors and several brothers on hand to help. This contraption was put together by my dad to get the pumpkin to the Thanksgiving Point weighoff. It consisted of 2 long poles with some netting and a blanket on top of it to make a stretcher of sorts to load it onto the truck. We all felt like we were pallbearers at some large persons funeral!

After we finally got it to Thanksgiving Point, there was plenty of time for pictures with the family and checking out all the other pumpkins that were there. Apparently, we Wardles aren't the only weird, redneck-like family around. There were plenty others there that helped us fit in. It was quite fun and exciting for the kids.

So part of the excitement comes when the officials come around to each pumpkin and take measurements to estimate the weight based on the formula that they came up with. Apparently, if you add the circumference, the over the top (in the center) length from ground to ground, and the over the top (end to end) length added together, it can help estimate the weight. Our largest was estimated at about 325 pounds based on those measurements. The final circumference was about 113 inches.

Ahh, the 2 siblings with the 2 siblings. Its hard to believe these 2 pumpkins came from the same seed. Jason's pumpkin ended up being 257 pounds. Much more than we had estimated. These two must be extra thick inside (no jokes needed). There were probably about 40 or so pumpkins there at the weighoff, and our largest came in 20th place overall. The largest this year was only 919 pounds. They said it was a down year because of the wet June we had and several growers lost their plants to disease. We couldn't tell. Looked like a pretty good year to us!
The next week after the Thanksgiving point weighoff, we got to move the pumpkin to the Herriman pumpkin festival! We have been going to this festival for several years. This year our two pumpkins got to be displayed on either corner of the stage. They were the focal points of the pumpkin festival for sure! They even arranged to have a "guess the weight" competition with the winner getting a toy tractor. We all wanted to guess just to get the great prize! Several of our friends and neighbors were disqualified because of insider info. The 2 people that were closest each guessed 387 pounds, so we had a guess-off to determine the winner. They had to guess the weight of Jasons pumpkin. The guy that guessed closest was only 1 pound off on that one, guessing 256 pounds.

There were lots of things for the kids to play on while we were there. Caleb loved jumping around in this thing. I'm surprised he let us keep his hood on, he usually hats to have anything on his head. What a cute little Pooh bear!

Jeffrey was so busy playing on all the stuff they had that he was rarely seen, except by his cousin Jesse that followed him around everywhere.

Hailey was our little butterfly. I guess its appropriate that she choose to be a butterfly this year, because she is such the social butterfly. She loved bouncing around playing everywhere.

So now we have to ask the question about next year. Will there be another great pumpkin? Will we have the patience, real estate, desire to try to grow another one? I'm sure Jason will talk us into doing it again. I heard the lady that grew the 1725 pound pumpkin this year is giving away seeds. Have to check into that one.

Our California Vacation

2009-10-07T23:16:00.019-06:00

So we decided to take our little family on a vacation to Southern California this year while there were out of school. It actually worked out pretty nice since we switched to the charter school - they were off all that week anyway. We were planning on driving out on that Friday afternoon but Jeffrey decided to get sick again, so we waited until he was starting to feel better and his numbers were coming down and his food was staying down also.
The drive was definitely the most relaxing part of the vacation. Seriously, why would you ever want to fly to Southern California when you can drive there and see things like aliens along the way? Apart from our little 3 aliens, we met this fine family of them in Death Valley. Hailey and Jeffrey thought there were cool, but Caleb was very afraid. This picture with Hailey is at that surprisingly big Alien Jerky store in Baker. Fortunately, I think its really beef jerky not alien jerky, and it was very tasty! It was 103 degrees while we were there. What I wouldn't give for a few moments at 103 degrees now!
The ride was long but interesting, and took about 11-12 hours altogether. When we got there late Saturday night in San Diego, they didn't have our reservation at the hotel. Thanks a lot Getawaytoday! Fortunately the hotel was able to find us a room that night (not as nice) and get us into the Kids Suite room we requested the next night.

We have never been to Seaworld before, so this was a fun experience for us. The lines weren't that bad on Sunday and Monday especially, and they had more fun rides and things to see than we had anticipated. This "Journey to Atlantis" ride had to be the highlight as far as rides were concerned for Jeffrey and I (Scott). This picture was the one time I actually got Tammy to ride. Hailey had her height measured more this week than I think she ever has had her entire life. And in case you were wondering, she is exactly 42 inches! The staff at SeaWorld (and Disneyland) are sticklers when it comes to making sure your kids are tall enough for the rides. The 2nd time Hailey rode this, the ride operator measured her, wasn't too sure of himself, called over another guy to check; still wasn't quite sure; then called over the supervisor lady. She checked and double checked for a few minutes (after we had been waiting in line for a while) until they finally decided she was o.k. to go. Gotta make sure she is safe, right? Its all about the insurance liability, I know.

So why is it that getting wet from a ride is all fun and good, but having a huge killer whale get you wet is not fun? Jeffrey had to get far up in the stands to avoid the water. I don't know, something about it being salty? We got some good pictures and were amazed at the things "Shamu" had been trained to do. We all had fun, and Caleb didn't complain about being drenched at the show, even though he had been sleeping when he first got drenched. Amazing things to see.

This was just a great picture in front of one of the many aquariums they have at SeaWorld. Love the reflection in the glass.

Look how wet we were! If you stand here for more than a minute, you get drenched by the people coming down the ride into the pool of water below. Don't we look cold?

Ahh Tinkerbell! After we left San Diego on Tuesday, we headed over to Disneyland and Hailey had to see all the princesses and especially Tinkerbell. Standing in line to get pictures with and autographs from the princesses was by far the longest lines we had to wait in while we were there. They need fast passes for the princesses.

At California Adventures, we got to see all the cousins and (well at least Kristins family, Randys family and Jasons family) - and we also got to see all the characters from Disney's Pixar movies - including To-Mater!

Thursday was our beach day with everyone. The sand seemed to go on forever, and Caleb loved playing in it every minute. Good thing we bought some sand toys, or else it would have been all over everywhere.

Jeffrey loved being out in the water most of the time conquering the waves. Made me a little nervous when he would get out too far, but from this distance to shore was fine with me. There were some good surfers and some good surf there at the time, as evidence by the guy off in the distance catching a good wave.

Randy and Jason were able to get Kristin out on the body board for a while. I kept closer to shore making sure the kids didn't run off too far or out too deep in the water. I think I've become too much of a worry-wort like dad in my old age.

Hailey is always up for a good time in her swimsuit. She loved the sand like Caleb and loved the water also. They spent a lot of time playing and making things in the sand.

Hailey's little mouse ears princess hat was a favorite for more than just Hailey. Caleb just had to get his picture taken with her hat. Cheese!

Good thing he is only 2 or I would have some concerns.

We were all worn out after all the hours of fun every day at Disneyland. Too bad we didn't all have a stroller to cruise around in like Caleb had. Someone needs to push me around in one. Fun vacation all in all, but once we got home it was nice to be home. I need a vacation from the vacation!

Happy Birthday to my Wonderful Husband!!!

2009-09-09T09:52:00.002-06:00

Today is Scott's birthday. For the next few days, he and his brother, Ryan, are the same age. I don't know how Darla did it all with two babies under the age of 2. He is the most wonderful husband and father. So since today is his birthday, I thought I would write about him. He still loves statistics. If you want to be in on the football guessing, give him a call. I don't really know many people who know what they want to get their degree in as a teenager. He also loves sports, to play or watch. He tries to ride his bike into work at least once a week and this has allowed him to keep his lifetime weight at weight watchers for almost 3 years!

He is also dang cute and I find him very sexy! He is a wonderful provider for us and is willing to help out around the house. If you try a new dish at our house, it was more than likely made by Scott. I will gladly admit that he is a way better cook than me. Fortunately, he will never complain even if he didn't like what was made. He will just eat it any way.

I love him more and more every day and just want him to know that he is a fantastic person. So happy birthday Scott!

Jeffrey - Foothills Elementary School Mascot?

2009-08-30T15:26:00.005-06:00

What a week it has been! The latest series of events that have changed life as we know it in our little family started on Thursday, August 21st. Jeffrey was out sick that day. Again. And in case you are wondering, no, he doesn't fake illnesses to get out of school. When he's really sick, it is fairly obvious. He hates to miss school.
Jeffrey and Hailey had already been back to school for a few weeks and getting comfortable with their new teachers and friends. Hailey just started Kindergarten, and just loves her teacher, Mrs. Tipton. Jeffrey was getting comfortable inside his portable classroom with Ms. Klinger (aka Ms."H")
We got an email from Providence Hall. A spot had just opened up in the 6th grade for Jeffrey. We had 24 hours to decide whether we wanted the spot. School would start up on Monday.
Providence Hall is a local charter school that opened up last year within walking distance in our neighborhood. We had already done our research on the school and its teaching ideas and had decided months ago that it would be in ours (and our kids') best interests to throw their names in the hat for their enrollment 'lottery' they had back around February. Alas, they were not chosen. Oh well, Foothills is still a great local public school that has served Jeffrey well for the most part in the 6 years he had been going there. Some great teachers, a couple of so-so ones, but all and all, we weren't disappointed at no being chosen, and knew there were a lot of families that signed their kids up and didn't get picked at Providence Hall. The only real concerns we have at Foothills has much more to do with the number of kids attending there, the unknowns with the school district budget crisis, and the fact that when Jeffrey moves on to middle school, that Hailey would still be on a year round schedule while Jeffrey would (likely) be on a traditional schedule. Not something we really wanted for our family, but we could deal with it.
So back to the email. What would we do with Jeffrey. Do we pull him out and try out something so alien to all of us? Would he fit in? Would he like it there? Would he get the same great support that we have really enjoyed for him at Foothills? All things to consider. We had to weigh our options. Fast.
As expected, Jeffrey wasn't too happy about the whole idea of changing schools. And I wouldn't have it any other way. I would be concerned if he were eager to jump ship so quickly. I'm happy that he likes where he is at. I've known too many that are never happy with where they are, and they are just never happy.
As Jeffrey was still sick and adamantly opposed about going to a new school, we called his uncle Jason over for a blessing. I think after Jason came over and helped with the blessing and we talked a little about the school decision we had to make, it set Jeffrey's mind at ease about whatever decision we would ultimately make about the school.
The next morning I took him up for a 'drive' and went up the new school for a tour. After the tour, he was excited about the opportunity to attend a new school. Even though he would really miss Foothills, as would we, he was willing to make that change and try something new.
We decided to go ahead and enroll him at Providence Hall.
It was time for some paperwork and finding some school uniform clothes for him to wear. White, red, light blue or navy blue, button collared shirts are required. Slacks in tan, blue or black colors are also required. Not always the easiest to find after everyone else got to those things long before we had a chance. But we managed.
By Monday morning Jeffrey was feeling fine and excited to go to school. We had met the teacher, Ms. Schnell on Friday afternoon. Tried to explain all his diabetes care needs to her and her in-classroom aide. I know she was a little fuzzy and unsure about it, but would be able to manage.
On Monday morning we left early for Foothills to turn in his books and get everything squared away with his withdrawal from the school. We ran into Ms. H in the hallway after dropping off a book to the library. She was a little saddened by his leaving, but understood the situation we were in. We got all his stuff from the classroom and went to the office.
We also had to inform the lunchroom and get his extra lunch money situation worked out, and Jeffrey just had to try to say good-bye to the head lunch-lady, who apparently knows him very well and checks in on him frequently. She wasn't there yet, but the other lunch-ladies would be sure to let her know that Jeffrey wanted to wish her goodbye. Very touching.
He also just had to let the Kindergarten teacher know he was leaving because he is assigned to a kindergarten kid in her class as a mentor. "Tell Caleb good-bye for me, would you?" "I hope he can get someone else to teach him his letters and stuff!" Again, a very touching moment.
The principal was also sad to see him leave also. A very nice lady that also knows him well. There were others in the hallway he had to give a shout out to also. But the biggest deal that he (and we) were really going to miss are his aides, Janet and Heather. We had worked hard, petitioning the schoolboard to let Foothills have an aide to help all the diabetics at the school. And now to be leaving, some sadness, uneasiness and guilt have set in.
His aides have been terrific. Heather, I had learned that morning, had given Jeffrey a really nice sweatshirt with hoodie to wear in his classroom because he mentioned he was cold sitting by the air conditioning vent. She had also given him for his birthday last year an Atlanta Falcons jersey and another shirt. Those aides have been so helpful with Jeffrey, making sure the last several years that he checks and records his bloodsugars, boluses the correct amounts for lunch and eats what he is has bolused for, and have just been there for him. Thats the hardest thing about leaving Foothills.
We also learned later that Heather took the job because of Jeffrey. She was comfortable with where she was at before taking the job, but after shadowing the other lady before her, and spending some time with Jeffrey, she said she just fell in love with him. She was afraid that we'd think she was stalking him or something, but she was sad to see him go. Another touching moment showing just how special our little Jeffrey is to so many people. Of course we already know just how special he is, but its just nice to see that others are really touched by his personality as well.
It seems everyone knows Jeffrey. I don't know how many times I've gone to the store or something and someone says "Hi, Jeffrey!" I ask him who that was, and he doesn't know, but thinks he goes to his school. I swear Jeffrey must be the Foothills School Mascot. Everyone knows him. What have we done?
The first few days of school have went on without much fanfare. He seems to like it there and knows several people at the school. Probably half of our neighborhood goes up there to school. Or so it seems.
We got the email from the school about a spot in Kindergarten opening up for Hailey on Wednesday.
Here we go again. The decision was not as easy as it might seem. Her Foothills teacher, Mrs. Tipton, is just great. Very organized and friendly. The new teacher at Providence Hall has recently rejoined the teaching ranks after several years off raising kids. A little unknown. School would start for her on Friday (yes, Friday). We had to scramble to get her a few outfits that would work on Thursday night.
I guess we will see how it all works out. I know its a long-term decision, and is only a 1-year proposition for Jeffrey as Providence Hall is an elementary school. He will be going to middle school next year. Unless we decide to enroll him in a different charter school next year.
Now, I'm just exhausted! Especially after coming back from a quickly thrown together scout camp on Saturday. But thats a different story for a different day.

Happy Birthday Caleb!!

2009-08-18T20:28:00.003-06:00

Caleb, I can't believe how fast you are growing up!
The homemade ice cream was sure tasty at your birthday party, wasn't it?
We are so proud to be your parents. You have a big smile and a great laugh. You have brought a lot of joy to our lives in the 2 years that you have been with our family.
But being 2 years old carries a lot of new responsibilities. You have learned quite a bit in the first couple of years of your life. No longer are you depending on mom and dad to do everything for you, like we did when you were a baby. You have learned how to use a spoon when eating your ice cream and cold cereal at breakfast. Not that cold cereal is your favorite breakfast food, is it? Nope, you seem to really like cold pizza for breakfast. You are very independent and playful and know to get your way while you get your brother and sister in trouble. You have been very attentive watching Jeffrey do his Tae kwon do, so you know how to punch and kick. We have all been on the receiving end of some of those blows. The hulk boxing gloves that your Aunt Kristin gave you for your birthday will be used quite a bit I'm sure. You are learning how to communicate your needs and wants; usually by going to the fridge or freezer to get a popsicle or some milk. You are learning to follow instructions - throwing away a dirty diaper or a wrapper from something that you have been eating. You look so big when you are sitting down with your big brother and sister.

You love to play outside. The trampoline gets used all the time by you and your siblings. It doesn't matter that you haven't learned to jump high yet, you just like to roll around, tackle and be tackled. And throwing balls around are some of your favorite activities.
Unfortunately, sacrament meeting is not one of your favorite activities. But I can't blame you, if it were socially acceptable, I would probably scream at the top of my lungs like you do and get out of sitting there for that long. Its tough!

We went to the doctor today and you now weigh 23.9 lbs. Wow! You actually are on the chart at the fifth percential! You also are about 33.3 inches long. You somehow have remained in the 25th percential, a personal best for our family.

You love going for rides or anywhere outside for that matter. The park is like a magnet for you. You also enjoy looking at books. Pointing at the different pictures and having us tell you what they are. I'm glad that you are gaining your independence, but at the same time, it makes me sad that our baby is growing up.

You are also very curious about everything. You try and figure out how everything works. This often can frustrate your parents, as they have to fish things out of places.

Thank you for joining our family and making it full of adventure! We love you!

Cache County Fair

2009-08-11T22:17:00.021-06:00

Well, we are back from that Cache County Fair! What an experience! Jeffrey really did a great job with that lamb considering the lack of time he got to spend training with the animal. I believe he called this one "brown ears", only I don't see the resemblance. Oh well, at least he didn't name a pet rabbit "Flowerknot" when he was 2 or 3.
Every day at the fair he would have to walk the lamb over to the washing area and give the thing a good cleaning. He did a pretty good job, I must say, a few errant sprays with the hose, and a little leftover soap residue, but not bad. Now if we can just convince him that he also needs to shower every day also. Them's the battles though with a 6th grader, right?

The proud owner. He really loves this lamb. What a great arrangement we have going with this whole extravaganza. Get a lamb for free from Grandpa Richens. He has more than enough to give one to grandkids that want to take care of them, show them and sell them at the fair. Can't complain ... well except for the poop cleaning up part, the tears after the lamb is sold and won't be seen again, and the catching up with missed homework from missing school and work. But you're not supposed to be in school anyway in early August are you?

Hailey and Caleb also thought the lamb should belong to them also. They got pretty attached to it and wanted to walk it around everywhere. It's sometimes just like that toy in nursery that all the kids want to play with. The lamb also seeemed to stay much cleaner than the kids did. Especially on Saturday when there was plenty of rain in the morning and plenty of muddy puddles in the afternoon. But then it wasn't extremely hot during the fair, so that part was nice. Hot and smelly isn't really enjoyable.
Its a good thing Tammy's sister, Pauline still lives close by to the fairgrounds (at least for the next few days) . Stopping there for some much needed rest was sure nice.

There was also enough time away from the lambs to see and do a few other things while we were there. Hailey got around and saw plenty. This guy had a couple of litters of these really cute looking chocolate labrador puppies. He only had 4 left, and since he was selling them for $500 a piece, there was no real discussion about getting one. Sometimes a hefty price is a good thing.

On Saturday, the auction was held. It was always a challenge to keep Caleb occupied and out of trouble. Here he is scoping out the cows during the auction. This big cow got a little friendly with him and scared us both a little. Did you realize that a cows tongue can stick out and lick your face from like a foot away? I didn't.

Hailey just had to ride on this little pony while we were there. For only 3 bucks, I couldn't tell her no. She just looks so natural and comfortable on the thing. She looks the part. If only she had some little cowboy boots to go with it. She had a lot of fun, I'm sure telling the girl that was walking her around on the pony about her and Jeffrey's lamb named "brown ears". And I'm sure she must have mentioned her new Kindergarten Teacher, Ms. Tipton.

There was also a climbing wall. Jeffrey just had to try it out every day we were there. The first side of the wall was a little difficult for him, but once he got onto the other side with more things to grab onto, he was much more comfortable and able to get to the top with relative ease. Way to go Jeffrey, didn't even seem very nervous. He made good friends with the gals running the climbing wall after being there each day.

I had to get in on the action too. He wouldn't let me just sit there and watch him unfortunately. I'll have to admit, I was probably a little more afraid than he was. "Would this belay rope spring thingy really hold me from quickly falling?" "How is it calibrated to account for the differing weights of the people climbing the wall?" "If I were 300 pounds would I come crashing down?" "If I were 300 pounds, would I even be able to take the first step up this wall?" Good thing I didn't have to find out about those last 2 questions.

Hailey also got into the action on the climbing wall. She wasn't going to just sit back and let Jeffrey have all the fun! I didn't think she would even want to try, but she did. You can see she made it up a little ways before she started trembling and wanted down. But each time she got down, she wanted another shot at it. Good thing the lines weren't very long and the girls running the wall weren't stingy about letting people have multiple chances for their $3 a climb admission.

We didn't even attempt to go on any carnival rides, the kids just wanted to do the climbing wall. All in all, it was a good weekend, and Jeffrey was able to get $225 dollars for his lamb when all was said and done. Not too bad for all the work he didn't have to put into it.

Grandparents are the best!

2009-08-11T22:11:00.011-06:00

I think it is very important to have the younger generation (our kids) to get to know the older generation (our parents and grandparents). The stories we all heard as kids seem to be new again and very interesting, especially to our kids. Sometimes, the stories they tell have gotten a little fuzzy over the years --and there have sometimes been funny twists on events that did (or didn't) happen many years ago.
I know it can be a little sad to see their memories go, but sometimes it can be a blessing.
My Grandpa Wardle (Harold) is pictured above with the kids. His wife of 60 years or so passed away a few months ago. It was sad for him -- he always asks about where his wife, Louise, is and has to be reminded every 5 minutes or so that "Louise now lives with her parents again -- she passed away a couple months ago". Sometimes he thinks she is just in the other room, or back at home. He keeps wanting to go home but can't live by himself anymore. He has lived a happy, if not somewhat confused life lately, with his wife, in a little mother-in-law style apartment in Bluffdale for the last 15-20 years. But since her death, it just hasn't been possible to continue living there. It's been nice -- I'm sure for the whole extended family to enjoy the pleasure of his company. He has been playing musical chairs, going from family to family, every couple of days. Our kids have gotten to know him better than they have in the past, as we see him now almost every Sunday when we go to visit my parents at their house. The kids love to see him, and he still loves to tease, as he always used to tease us. Sometimes we are not sure if he is teasing or just not hearing well or has a memory lapse. We repeat the names of the kids over and over and he still doesn't get it right. But he loves to watch them play.
Caleb always comes up to him and give him love 'taps' (or punches), just as he does for everyone he knows. Hailey gets frustrated sometimes when she keeps having to repeat her name, but she always gives him big hugs. Jeffrey is always trying to help him out, helping him walk around, helping him out of the car, and just talking to him. He is so patient and loving towards him. My mom, for better or worse is now being confused for his wife, Louise, and I don't think she finds it particularly humorous when he wants kisses from her. Funny, but a little sad - if he is not just teasing her also (probably not).

This is a picture of our family with Tammy's grandma Richens. Her name is Celia. She was born in Beaver Utah and moved to the Uintah Basin after a few years when her dad got a job working as a teacher in Altamont. She married Aften Richens and they raised their 5 children outside of Myton Utah on a farm. Living through the Great Depression, even as a kid, taught them both to be very thrifty, grandma has a hard time spending money on things even if she needs to replace them. Aften died about 5 years ago and until a couple of month's ago, she has continued to live on her own in her house. She just celebrated her 93rd birthday. As you can see in the picture, she has been sick lately and I wonder if she even weighs 85 lbs now. It has been very hard on her to not be in her house and also not attend church every Sunday. The things that I remember most about my grandma, are that she had the best flower gardens. She loved to be out tooling in the dirt all day with them. I also remember that she would go sleigh riding down her hill with us. It was always a lot of fun!

My Grandpa Darwin Olson is also widowed. He has always been inspirational to me. Always a story and and anecdote to share with the grandkids. A war story was common, and in later years there were plenty of stories from his mission to South Africa with his late wife, Margie. I always found those stories fascinating, and his views on life, and how to lead it very sound.
He decided it was finally time to move out of his home where he had lived with his wife and kids for many, many years. Its really kinda sad to see that place go. He had been living on his own there for the last few years since her death.
A lot of memories were had there when we went up to Roy to visit them on a frequent basis. The place he is living in now though, near the Davis County Hospital is very nice. He just seems to fit in very well and brighten the place up. He took us on a tour of the place, and a 'tour' of his little apartment there. It was decorated very well by his sons and daughters to make it feel really like home. Jeffrey was fascinated by all the decorations he had in his display cabinet and all the stuff hanging on the wall. He even gave Jeffrey and Hailey a shiney green volcano rock to take home. They both love the rocks, and I'm sure they will remember him by those rocks.
My Grandpa still has the old cookie jar there on the counter in the apartment with the seemingly endless supply of those yellow creme sandwich cookies for all visitors to enjoy. I never recall a time when I've been at their house and there wasn't a cookie always there for the taking. Gotta love those cookies. The only thing that would make those treats any better is the homemade ice cream that he would always make for us when we came over. I think he must have coined the phrase "I scream, you scream, we all scream for ICE CREAM." He really new how to make memories vivid for his grandkids and I am very grateful that he recorded so many memories with film and written histories. It's a great example for me as live just seems to fly by much too fast!

Grandparents are always the best!

How does your garden grow?

2009-07-27T21:26:00.018-06:00

Updates
Time for a new update. As fall begins to roll in, I wonder how I am going to roll this thing out. Here are the latest pics from 9/20. We figure this big thing is approaching 300 pounds at this point.

Dang this is getting big! Yes, this is a regular size basketball in case you were wondering.
Can someone help me lift this thing out when its time? It's probably about 76 inches around and probably weighs about 125 pounds or so right now. But look out, its brother is catching up quick!

This is the 'little' brother. It is only a few inches smaller in circumference, and probably weighs about 15 pounds or so less (my guess).

And the smallest one of the family that I haven't aborted. Its about basketball size.

Alright, you asked for it here it is from August 13th!
It is now about 58 inches around. I wonder what it weighs about now.
It's the great pumpkin Charlie Brown!

And here is the next largest one on the same day

On August 2nd, it definitely surpassed the size of the basketball. This thing is growing pretty quickly, I'd better get something underneath this thing and figure out moving the cinderblock before it hits into it.

This is what it looked
like on July 31. It was
fast approaching the
size of the basketball
On July 25th, this is what it looked like. To give perspective, it was just larger than a softball.

I love this picture, taken at ground level right into the main vine of the plant. Unfortunately, since the wind has blown off the gate on the fence on the south side of the yard, the leaves and vines on the plant have taken a bit of a hit. They are mangled a bit and are not as healthy as they were on this date.

Original Post
R eal estate might not be the hot
commodity right now as it was a few years ago, but when it comes to gardening space, it hasn't been any hotter. If you've been approached by Jason with a pumpkin seed in the last couple of years, you'll know what I'm talking about.
It ceases to amaze me at how big a small seed can become. I figured this one plant has been growing anywhere between 3-6 inches a day in each direction and is currently about 24 feet long
and about 18 feet wide.

We'll see just how big those pumpkins become. Right now the biggest is just over softball size. The seed came from a pumpkin that weighed in at about 1,000 pounds.
I feel just awful about what happened to the sunflower (Jeffrey's sunflower). We planted it from last years plant we grew. This plant was in a race with the corn on how high it could grow. It was

just shorter than the tallest corn until it reached about 5 feet tall. Then it took off. Fast. It was growing about 3 inches a day until it reached about 9 feet tall. Sorry no pictures of that. It was starting to lean as the flower started to form and weigh it down. So I lightly tied it back the other direction a bit, and that night a big storm came and blew it over in that direction. Dang it! Snapped it off near the bottom of the stalk.
The broccoli has been delicious and the corn should be ready soon. The tomatoes look like they've turned the corner after a bad June and they might actually form and ripen before the cold sets in.
In other news, Jeffrey's diabetes camp was a success. I guess. He didn't want to come home. Too bad. But I guess if he finds its too sad to come home, we just told him we can't send him next time.
School is back in session and Jeffrey is in 6th grade now. Wow! Hailey will be going to "Jeffreys School" She is excited to be walking home with Jeffrey when she starts afternoon kindergarten next week.
Next up, the Cache County Fair. Jeffrey is showing another lamb this year. Lets see if he can control it a little better this year. Don't ask him if he likes lamb chops.

Jeffrey at Diabetes Camp

2009-07-13T17:44:00.006-06:00

So we dropped Jeffrey off to Camp Red Cliffe near Huntsville yesterday. It was one of the hardest things that I have ever done. Leaving him with other people to care for for 5 days. Scott and I have had pretty much the complete care of Jeffrey's diabetes for the past six years. I worry that he will not pay attention. I know that it would be good if he learned to take control himself, but at the same time, I worry about not being needed any more. I guess life goes on and he and I both need this time to grow.

Hailey was not happy to leave Jeffrey, she wanted to stay with him. I had Caleb color him a picture and mailed it to him so that he can get mail.

We got our air conditioning fixed today. The guy that came was someone that our neighbor recommended. He was good and he also gave me some recommendations on how to make our home more comfortable as far as our air needs. So if anyone needs a recommendation, I would use him.

A few random thoughts

2009-06-21T21:14:00.003-06:00

I'm not exactly sure how to start this blog ... or end it. As a matter of fact, I'm not even sure what is going in the middle either. But maybe if I just keep on typing, some kind of thought pattern might emerge.
Even though I am tired of all this rain, and I'm sure everyone else is too -- It does have some benefits. For one, it has kept that dang ice cream truck away -- except for that one evening a few days ago when the sun crept through the clouds long enough for that devil to creep through the neighborhood. Well, really if he were just creeping thru, it wouldn't be a problem. It's that dang music he plays that seems to hypnotize all the kids in the neighborhood, especially mine. It causes them to run inside and dump all the money out of their banks, and hand it over for a couple of small treats.
I do have to admit, though, I have the sweetest kids in the world. Jeffrey has always been so thoughtful. It can be frustrating at times. Like when the ice cream man came the other day, he not only bought some treats for himself, but also for his friends and siblings. Of course he had to use some of his sisters money too. Other times, he will give away brand new toys or other things that he is no longer interested in.
But then there are those moments -- like last night, when he had a bad headache and so did I. He was thoughtful enough to, without asking, get me a cold, wet washcloth for my aching head, with no thought for himself. He has always been that kind of kid.
Hailey is just sugar sweet. And she is all girl. This morning as I was getting ready for church, she came in with her red dress on and stood next to me, looking up at me -- her eyes blinking, and her hands flinging her hair back as only a girl knows how to do, just fishing for a compliment. Other times though she is outside looking for bugs. She just loves rolley-pulleys, and butterflies. Then just tonight as she is doing her prayers, she says "Bless that daddy can get a sled for Christmas, and mommy, some rings, and Jeffrey gets ... nothing, and I get some butterflies."
Caleb is another story. He is a handful. It seems like everyday he pounds his head into something. Sometimes on purpose. Today's incident was more of an accident that seemed to happen in the blink of an eye, He had to see what was up on the picnic table, so he was climbing up on, and falling off the table - headfirst onto the cement floor. THUD! A few tears later, after he saw his little cousins come by, he was just fine. Back to his old young self; climbing, running and finding ways to get himself hurt yet again.
They say that if a kid doesn't get bruised and scratched up on a daily basis, he is doing this kid thing all wrong. Crazy! By the way, for my future reference, what does a concussion look like on a toddler?
Did I mention church? Seriously, this kid can not sit through a sacrament meeting. I don't even care if he's not sitting. We've got books, toys, food, drinks, stuff to color and stuff to color with. What else do we need to do to keep him quiet? The kid screams and cries if we don't let him out of the room. And when we do have to take him out, its no fun for him, or us. He's not allowed to run the halls or to run around a room. Its in the carseat by himself or in a secluded room. He just doesn't seem to get it!
But for all the frustrations with him, he is also very sweet. There's nothing quite like a hug from Caleb. He'll sit and watch a basketball game with me and give me high-fives. And he loves to shoot hoops and throw balls. When he smiles, it just seems to beam right through his eyes and melts your heart!
So even though the laundry never seems to end; and the house just never seems to stay clean; and for all the good meals that get cooked and not eaten -- its all worth the effort in the end.

I'm going to be in trouble for this one

2009-06-04T09:56:00.002-06:00

..... But it is something I just had to share.

How many of you have talked for so long with someone that your battery actually died?
Here's the scoop - I had just finished with scouts last night (a little orienteering and treasure hunting at the park next to our house). After I sucessfully corraled the kids back into the house with a little bribery, "Hailey, lets go set-up your new swimming pool! - PSYKE!", Tammy remembered she needed to drop off her visiting teaching report to her supervisor or whatever. It was about 8:45 by the time she left, and I figured she'd be right back (her VT supervisor doesn't seem to be the chatty type). By the time 10PM rolled around, the kids in bed and Tammy still not back, I started to get a little worried. I tried calling her phone. Nope, she left it at home. So I threw on a shirt with my sweat pants and hopped in the truck to peruse the neighborhood. She wasn't at the the VT supervisors house, so where could she be? After continuing thru the neighborhood a little more, I see her in the van chatting in front of the house of one of the nicer ladies in the ward. I pulled over to see what was up. Just lost track of time, I guess. ... Oh, and, "why won't the van start up again? Must have ran the battery out, while I was talking all this time. But the engine wasn't on .... how could?" I guess the key must have been in "accessory position". Anyways, good thing the lady's husband had jumper cables because I just don't have any at the moment. Guess I'd better get some before the next time this happens.
Note to all women who are prone to chat: Turn the key to 'Off' before you chat with another woman, or take the key out and put it in the purse. Or better yet, wear pants with pockets and put them in there. That way you won't lock them inside the car when you leave your purse there. Oh, and take your phone with you when you go somewhere. Comes in handy when you need to call for help or your husband needs to find out where you are.

I hope the couch is comfortable tonight!

Another note (off topic): If you are interested in going up to Brigham City and watching us in the bike tour, they are looking for volunteers and providing a free lunch and T-shirt to anyone that can volunteer for 4 hours. Just a thought.

Ride for Diabetes

2009-06-01T13:57:00.002-06:00

I just figured I'd take a page out of Kristins last blog and put a plug in to our little family fund raising summer bike escapade. Click on this link www.tour.diabetes.org to be taken to the main page. From there you can click on 'Donate' and select the rider you want to sponsor. Both Jeffrey and I are riding (but Jeffrey still needs more donations in order to qualify for the ride). Any amount you donate is appreciated and tax deductable. The event we are participating in is on June 13th in Brigham City.
I know we've already sent emails to most of you that read our blog (unless there are more blog-stalkers I'm not aware of).
As I'm sure you all know, Jeffrey has had Type 1 diabetes for 6 1/2 years now. As you can all understand, its a very time-consuming and emotionally draining disease to live with. But, what can one do, but to suck it up and move forward with faith. We have been fortunate to have the support system that we have to help Jeffrey. We couldn't ask for better family, friends and doctors than we have been blessed with. Unfortunately, many others don't have the same support.
The American Diabetes Association is a great organization that has come through for us to get us the support we needed in the time of our greatest need. With the many advances in diabetes care over the last few decades, living with diabetes is certainly much more manageable than it has been in the past. Yet there are more and more people being diagnosed with the disease everyday. We appreciate the work they do and feel a certain responsibility to advocate and give back within our sphere.

Hailey's Preschool Graduation

2009-05-27T23:08:00.003-06:00

Hailey recently had her graduation from preschool. She is so sad to be no longer going to Ms. Kari's school any more. The ceremony was really cute and a lot of fun. You could certainly tell that they put a lot of effort into their school. All the kids had to perform a poem that they memorized during the year. They also sang several songs, including a very touching rendition of God Bless the USA. The gowns were fabulous (garbage bags). Hailey wore a spring dress, but I felt bad that I didn't realize that they were showing off their tumbling, (so we got to see her panties). Any guesses on how long it will be that Ms. Kari, Grandma, and Norman (the dog), are tops in Hailey's prayers? Scott and I want to get back into her prayers some day.

Tasty Leaves?

2009-05-05T19:27:00.003-06:00

Is that the secret? Really?
You all know the drill; try to get the kids to eat their veggies (or anything healthy for that matter). I just never thought all it would take was to change what to call it, but it worked. For the grown-ups, its affectionately referred to as spinach. When we were kids, it was the idea that you could be strong like Popeye if you ate your spinach. That was a little bit of an exaggeration (for most people, not me - I'm built just like Popeye).
Its a pretty simple food, spinach. Some like it raw, like Tammy; some will endure it cooked, like Jeffrey. I'll have it either way. Hailey, well if its not chips and chocolate milk, its painful. So tonight we tried a little reverse psychology.
So this is how it went: "No, these tasty leaves are only for big people, not little girls." After a few minutes, Hailey says "I want some tasty leaves like Jeffrey!"
The FDA recommends 5 servings of veggies a month, right? Thought so.
At least apples aren't that tricky, after you figure out what everyone likes. For my kids its red apples, who cares what variety. For Tammy, its Granny Smith. For me, its Golden Delicious.
Sometimes, you can combine the greens with the apples and come up with something good. Like spinach salad with diced apples, craisins and candied almonds, yummy! (especially if there are leftover candied almonds to snack on later)

Cell phones and dating ideas

2009-04-21T09:37:00.002-06:00

So anybody got any better ideas for a date? It started out just great. We had dinner at Ruby River (their steaks are probably the best you can do if there is no Longhorn Steakhouses within a couple hundred miles). Then seeing as we didn't have enough time to catch a movie -- and frankly there wasn't really a movie we cared to see -- and it was too cold by that time to do anything outside, minigolf, walking off the dinner, etc. We decided to walk around the mall. Talk about feeling old! Since I wanted to find out what kind of new cell phone I could get (in June, when our contract would be up), I suggested stopping at the Verizon counter to look for a couple minutes. So Tammy went off to the little girls room, and somehow those couple of minutes looking at phones turned into 10 minutes, then 20, then half of an hour. He talked me into a Blackberry phone instead of the more basic phone I was originally interested in. I guess you don't have to wait the 2 years to get your 'free' phone with Verizon. Only 1 year and sign a new 2-year contract. So after Tammy came back with some clothes for the kiddos, we spent another half of an hour and he threw in a free phone for Jeffrey to boot! Nothing fancy, no camera. Just a little more piece of mind for us when he's off on his own.
So anyways, a whole hour at the Verizon kiosk at the mall was not exactly Tammy's idea of a good date. To be fair, it wasn't mine either.
And now I've got my blackberry that I now don't think I'm even keeping seeing as how I can't sync up my work email and calendar to it like I was told I could, no problem. Maybe ... if I had the $45 monthly plan (on top of the normal $69/month plus $20 for the 2 other lines), maybe I could. But its looking like now my days amongst the blackberry carrying brigade are numbered, barring any yet unforseen events.
So anyone got any better ideas for a good date? At least for that hour or so after dinner before picking up the kids?

Keep your eyes peeled!

2009-04-17T20:15:00.003-06:00

I don't remember why we ever got rid of that old basketball hoop we got for Jeffrey several years ago. Oh yeah, probably because it was taking up too much space, and wasn't exactly in the best condition anymore. But now we are wishing we had it back. Caleb now is the basketball junkie of the house and we don't have a hoop anymore for him to shoot on. So he has found a way to improvise. And trust me when I say it involves a lot of time, strength, and patience. He found a butterfly net and a regular size basketball as a substitute. The ball, as you can see, doesn't exactly fit in the net -- so the net gets kind of heavy when the ball lands on top. And you have to hold the net at just the right angle and height or there will be complaints.
So we've been looking around for a used (or otherwise inexpensive) little tykes basketball hoop for our little tyke. ..... so if you see one around (or have one you don't want anymore). Let us know. We just don't want to pay $45-50 for a new one. We'd gladly pay $20 though for a decent used one.
Its a good thing we are getting a 2-for-1 deal on Tae kwon do classes. Caleb is getting pretty good at all the kicks and moves and stuff, even though we only enrolled Jeffrey is in the classes. Caleb is pretty good at catch imitating others. So we really have to watch ourselves!

Valentine's Dinner for the Kids

2009-02-15T18:45:00.002-07:00

So I saw a spot on Studio 5, I know, its not as good as Good things Utah, and some of you out there think that Darrin looks like Scott, but occasionally I do watch 5 minutes here or there. They showed this lady who would do a special meal for her children for valentine's day. Special dishes and everything. So I set the table with cloth napkins, nice plates, and our wine goblets, (notice that I only have 4 glasses that are 2 different types). Scott made pork tenderloin, carrots, broccoli, and rice. For dessert, we had chocolate dipped strawberries. The kids were very suprised and loved every minute of it! I definately think that we will be doing this again next year.

Free lunches and dinosaurs

2009-02-04T21:55:00.003-07:00

I know, I know. This is Scott, and its been way too long since I've blogged last. Blame it on Facebook. We are all sure glad that the sickie season appears to be over. Lets see, now that football season is over, and all the football blogs that went with it, time to get back to whats been going on around here.

Hailey has been having a blast in preschool. She goes on fieldtrips every month. This month, its the post office. Last month, it was the dinosaur museum. That was quite the experience. If you've ever been there (especially with small children) you'll know what I'm talking about. I'm talking about the 'biggest dinosaur museum in the state? country? world?' Who knows, but its the one down there at Thanksgiving point. From what I've heard, it wasn't really that crowded when we went compared to normal, but I don't know. We weren't the only group adults herding around a seemingly endless supply of small children. Not sure if we were at a dinosaur museum or a wild children zoo. You know, the kind where the adults go and watch the children play (and fight). They've got places the children can play in the sand, and pretend they are digging up fossils. They've got a whole setup where you can pretend live dinosaurs are getting buried in the sand (and water). And if it sounds kind of messy, it was. They had aprons they could wear to limit the damage, and a washbasin, but of course never enough to go around.

The fossils were all pretty cool if you had a chance to look at them. Big full dinosaur skeletons, small little microorganisms trapped in amber. But being as kids are, they wanted to play. There were a few computer games around some of the exibits. Games that all the kids wanted to play. But if you want to actually see the exhibits, I suggest ditching the kids at home and go by yourself. Fun huh. Good thing we got to go for a discount since we were on fieldtrip, because the regular price is a little steep.

Now about the free lunches -- I had to go and see if I could score me a free lunch the other day at Denny's. The one that everyone else was apparently trying to get on Tuesday. Well, I drove by, and kept on driving. The line was out the door and around the corner. At least 200 people in line. Don't have that kind of time. So I went to my next option --- use one of my free combo meal coupons from Chik-Fil-A. Only I must have used up the last one I had in my wallet. Dangit, I'll have to raid my drawer at work for the few I have left. So option #3, actually pay for lunch . Had to try out that so called 'Angry whopper' at Burger King. Well, for one - it wasn't very angry, and two - since when does a combo meal cost over $8 at a fast food joint? More if you don't want the small drink and small fry!

Do I sound bitter?

Final Week!

2009-01-11T23:11:00.002-07:00

Its all over! We have a champion. But we'll start with last weeks winners. Congrats Sherry! Its about time you win one! And on the season, Tammy wins it all! Wasn't even close. Jason moved up to 2nd, while Nick stayed in 3rd and Jim 4th.
Here are the results:

http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=pGlbc_um5DZF9YaPIgwhQKw

And now. I think I am considering retirement for this thing. Or just some much deserved R&R!

On to blog about bigger and better things ....

Bowl Week 1 Results

2008-12-23T23:02:00.002-07:00

Yea! I finally won a week! Yippie! It was exactly what I asked Santa for Christmas.
Tough week for BYU fans! But there's always next year! Unless of course the economy tanks and all sports are cancelled. Talk about riots! Am I right people!
Here are the results:

http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=pGlbc_um5DZHLQwVDRJK4OA

The games for this week are the BCS games .. some pretty good matchups!
The Utes are in the Sugar bowl on Jan 2nd vs. Alabama
The Rose bowl on Jan 1st is USC vs Penn State. Go Joe Pa!
--And choose between some good basketball matchups
BYU hosting #6 Wake Forest on Jan 3rd
Utah hosting Gonzaga #7 Gonzaga on Dec 31st
or the Jazz at the Lakers on Jan 2nd

Christmas craziness

2008-12-22T14:46:00.002-07:00

Maybe I am getting too old, but right now I am so ready for all the snow to end. We live next to a park and get the added benefit of having the wind blow all the snow from the park into our driveway. We also have the city when they plow, most of the time, turn the corner and leave it all right in front of our driveway. I feel like I am getting big blisters. I think that before the season is out, I am going to need to get a very nice massage.

This year I shopped more on line than I have ever before. There was a lot of killer deals out there and why shop all over the place if I can have them shipped to me for free? I am now just hoping that I receive them today, I'm worried that all the snow will prevent them from leaving me my packages. In the past, I have received nasty notes in my mail box saying that I need to clear the snow or not recieve my mail. Oh well, hopefully it will end soon. I guess if I don't receive the packages, we will just have to go with what we have and the kids should be happy with that.
We hope that everyone out there has a very Merry Christmas! Stay safe this week!

Week 15 Results

2008-12-07T23:31:00.002-07:00

Its not over yet. Some good games this week. Unfortunately they didn't turn out so well in my opinion. Snow College lost their national championship. Weber State got knocked out of their quest for a title. And Utah State lost to BYU. Bummer! Then I go and take 2nd place to my co-worker (Ryan). Its sucks!
Anyways, here are the results:

http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=pGlbc_um5DZFjV9RJr-iRKQ

So still on the season, Tammy is 1st. Keep a look out for games in the bowl season. We're not done yet!

So how do you cope?

2008-12-02T10:08:00.003-07:00

Raising kids and dealing with the problems that affect everyone else is oftentimes very difficult to deal with. Case in point: How do you react when you have a certain 5th grader that is already running behind because there is no sense of time? When its time to leave for school and he has to rush back into the house to get his jacket; but then gets distracted by whats on TV, all the while his dad is waits in the truck for 5 minutes to take him to school. In certain cases and for certain ages, timeouts seem to be somewhat effective. But when they're older and when there is no time for a timeout, what then? Yelling doesn't seem to get thru, it just causes friction and gets misinterpreted as a lack of love for the child.
I guess you might have heard that Elder Wirthlin passed away last night. I really admired that man. Do you remember his last conference talk? It was titled "Come what may, and love it" For reference, here it is: http://lds.org/conference/talk/display/0,5232,23-1-947-9,00.html
He mentions that when adversity strikes, we need to learn to laugh. Good advice. But difficult to put into practice; as I guess most good advice seems to be. Just yesterday, this same child on his way to school -- as he often does; stopped by his friends house to venture out to school together. But this friend was still off-track (even though he had already been off-track for 3 weeks). Long story short, the 2 of them spent the next half-hour watching TV at his house until his mom came downstairs and saw the two of them there. One of them (mine) should have been to school 30 minutes earlier. A moment like that, funny. That is, if you weren't there and after having some time to reflect on it. But in the moment, very frustrating.
So to all of you, especially those with older children and more complicated frustrating situations, how do you cope?

Week 14 Results

2008-11-30T23:06:00.002-07:00

So, you think this thing is over, don't you? We'll were not done yet! Bowl season is fast approaching on us. So even though BYU is essentially done after loosing to Utah last week, football still goes on. I hear they'll probably be invited back (once again) to the Vegas bowl. But not against UCLA this time.
The big winner this week was the Utah State Aggies! How about those Aggies, 47 to 2! Do you think they can just rehire Brent Guy? You know he did get gatoraded (if thats a word).
But what you are really after is the winners of the predictions this week. So here you go -- we have a tie for 1st! Jeffrey and Newell (Tammy's dad) are the winners! Congratulations!
Tammy is still in 1st overall.
Here are the results:

http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=pGlbc_um5DZHa63xDziniZQ

So we are still going again next week, some interesting games on tap
How about those Weber State Wildcats in the quarterfinals for the (national championship?) at Montana next week?
For the next game, an interesting one with #1 Alabama vs #2 Florida at a neutral field for the SEC championship. Winner likely plays for the national championship.
And for the last game, its the Big 12 championship, #3 Oklahoma vs Missouri. If Oklahoma wins, they'll be in the national championship.

Calebs first hair cut

2008-11-24T20:18:00.003-07:00

Last week we (I mean Scott), decided that it was time to give Caleb his first hair cut. I got to hold him (he did pretty well) and Scott cut his hair using the clippers. I still want to cry, because he no longer looks like a baby. He now runs around the house and looks so grown up. Where did the time go?

Week 13 Results

2008-11-23T23:07:00.002-07:00

Another week, another victory for Nick. Lets not hope for a threepeat. Nice job to the Utes. Wonder how it would be different for the cougs if all their tough games were at home this year like the Utes. Anyways, here are the results.
http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=pGlbc_um5DZHam7WYm5U_Dw

Tammy is still in 1st, but Nick is creeping up moved into 2nd. I'll have to chck into next weeks games, we'll see.

Week 12 Results

2008-11-16T22:21:00.002-07:00

Someone besides mom was able to win this week, although she came in 2nd place! Great job to Nick for 1st place. He only got the winner right on 1 of the 3 games but was so close to the scores on the games that noone could catch him. There was a log jam for 2nd place with mom (Darla), and Adelia and Newell (Tammys parents) all in 2nd place! Here are the results:
http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=pGlbc_um5DZEAe_E9tiSfCQ
On the season, Tammy is still running away with it (I might need to carry competition all the way thru basketball season to give me a shot at catching up). And Tammys mom has moved into 2nd on the season, who'd have thunk it?

For next weeks games, it the big one!
(10-1) BYU @ (11-0) Utah. Seriously, has it ever been any bigger?
#2 Texas Tech @ #5 Oklahoma
Utah State has a bye (and did I just hear bye-bye to coach Guy?), so ....
The high school state championship is Friday Bingham vs Alta (again), so you can pick that one.
Or, by popular demand, a pro game. Defending champs (9-1) NY Giants @ (7-3) Arizona. Don't look now but remember Kurt Warner? That 'Greatest show on turf' MVP guy from the Rams a few years back? Well, don't look now, but that old dude is actually looking like a MVP again with the Arizona Cardinals. And I don't think they've had a winning season since, .... well never.

Caleb's pictures

2008-11-10T08:18:00.002-07:00

We took Caleb in to get his one year pictures done a couple of weeks ago. He really didn't want to cooperate, all he wanted to do was walk all around the room and not pay attention. We did get some really cute one's of him though, including him spiking a football. We are going in today to get our family pictures done, so if any one wants one, let me know in the next couple of days so that we can get the correct number of pictures ordered.

Week 11 Football Results

2008-11-09T22:44:00.003-07:00

We have our first multiple week winner!! Way to go Mom! 2 Weeks in a row! Good thing I put this in a spreadsheet, I added wrong at first, sorry Debbie :(
Here are the results
http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=pGlbc_um5DZHmBNFKNnntFQ
In the season standings, Tammy is running away with it. Some has to really step up in the last couple of weeks, and hope that she has some really bad guesses.

This next week, all our local teams are on the road.
A tough test for BYU on the road at Air Force.
Should be a cake walk for Utah facing San Diego State on the road. Do I hear 'Trap game'?
Utah State is at Lousiana Tech.

Week 10 results

2008-11-04T15:53:00.002-07:00

A little late, but here they are:
http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=pGlbc_um5DZENfhfci9dBLw
Congratulations to Mom! She had faith in all our teams, and it paid off for her big time! Tammy was in 2nd, and has moved into 1st overall for the season! Time to step it up Jim! I've basically just written off the entire season.

For this next week we have a big game coming up very quickly, TCU @ Utah on Thursday!
We also have what should be an easy game when San Diego State comes to BYU on Saturday. Finally, a very tough road test for the Aggies at Boise State.
I think I can speak for Utah and BYU fans when I say, Go Aggies!

Going to the dentist

2008-11-03T21:29:00.002-07:00

Going to the dentist has to be one of my all time least favorite things to do. We went last month as a family for our six month check ups, the next day one of my teeth had a small chip. So I went to the dentist and he said the the filling that was in the tooth was too big and that is why it chipped. The solution: make the filling even bigger. So I gave them the go ahead and then the fun began. (Nothing beats the numb feeling of your cheek for hours after they are done, and the feeling that you are drooling in front of everyone). So the dentist started to drill, as he was drilling, he noticed that there was some decay under the filling. This is the second tooth in 5 years that I have had this problem. I know that it was the dentist that we used when we first moved back to Utah. I won't name names, but I feel that he should pay up at least $500 for all that we are out for his incompetent work. (Scott has to get a cap on a tooth that this dentist did a bad filling on. So unless you only want a nice dentist, and don't care about accuracy, then feel free to use our old dentist. (By the way, we haven't used this dentist for the past 2 1/2 years).

Hailey speaks with a southern accent

2008-10-29T19:55:00.002-06:00

Hailey is speaking with a southern accent lately. Scott and I are trying to figure out where she picked it up, I don't think that any of the PBS cartoon's have an accent. Who ever taught her to speak this way needs to stop the madness!! Nothing is worse than hearing her say "thaaat".

We took Caleb in to get pictures done today, so we will let everyone know what they look like.

Week 9 Football Results

2008-10-26T23:04:00.003-06:00

Congratulations to Tammy! Kicking everyones butt this week! And she moves into a tie for 1st place on the season with Jim. Here are the results:
http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=pGlbc_um5DZFXimm_qc3aVQ

Next weeks games -
BYU @ Colorado State
Utah @ New Mexico
Hawaii @ Utah State

Jazz Game

2008-10-23T22:39:00.002-06:00

We went to the Jazz game tonight. Scott had received 8 free tickets when he dropped off a couple of bags of food. Caleb actually did pretty well, even though we were all way up on the top row. The kids started to get bored and wanted Jason and Scott to make paper airplanes out of the ads that had been left on our seats. A couple of security guys came up to our section and were chewing out some teenagers near us. (Our planes didn't go very far, but their's went into the bottom section). The Jazz ended up winning and Caleb couldn't decide if he wanted Scott, Jason, or me to hold him, so he just kept going from person to person.

anyway, go Jazz!

Week 8 Football Results

2008-10-19T21:41:00.002-06:00

I finally won this week! Hooray! No, its not rigged. Sorry to all the BYU fans, tough loss. So here are the results:
http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=pGlbc_um5DZEnP34nOwZmDA

On the year, Jim is still in 1st place, but Rick has moved in to a very close 2nd!

For next weeks games, we get to see how well BYU bounces back vs UNLV at home. Also, Utah State has its homecoming vs Fresno State. The third game, since Utah has a bye week. Bingham is at Copper Hills (on Thursday). Wasatch is at Union (on Thursday), or choose the NFL game of the week NY Giants at Pittsburgh Steelers.

Caleb loves Martial arts

2008-10-16T09:03:00.004-06:00

Caleb is only 14 months old now, but he loves to do Jeffrey's martial arts. He will hold onto the side of the couch and kick his leg out to the side and say "utt". This is very amusing to all of us, he looks so cute doing it. I guess I need to take pictures the next time that he does this. I can't believe how fast he is growing up. Where did the time go? It still seems like I only brought him home from the hospital a few month's ago. Oh well, I am enjoying this phase of his life as well.

So how good is Chic-Fil-A?

2008-10-12T22:21:00.002-06:00

Just in case you were wondering, Chic-Fil-A is a great business for our community. If you need another reason, just go there tomorrow (Monday).
So there is this family in our neighborhood, (used to be in our ward). Their son, Trent has been battling Luekemia for a year and a half and has now been sent home to be with his family for the time he has left. He has made a great impression and has a strong testimony. He is only 8 years old and has been so strong and brave. So what does this have to do with Chik-Fil-A you ask? Well, they are donating 20% of their revenues tomorrow to his family to help pay the medical expenses. They are also taking cash donations for him and having a silent auction (at the District location in S. Jordan). The silent auction is for items donated by people and local businesses. They are also giving out coupons for free sandwiches if you donate more than $10.
Check out his blog on our favorites list (Trent Duval).
In case you were wondering, I put the football related predictions blog off to the right side of the page. I've decided to use the main part of the page for non-football related things.

A non-football blog

2008-10-08T21:25:00.003-06:00

So who says you can't pass a Taekwondo belt test with your bloodsugars off the charts? Thats what Jeffrey did on Monday. So he was keeping his bloodsugar numbers to himself on Monday, not telling us just how high they were. When we found out at that he had been high (over 600) since Noon, we were already at the belt test. So I got to run home during the testing and get everything he needed to change his site for his insulin pump to bring his number down. Fun stuff! He still managed to pass his test, even though his energy level was down a bit, probably because his bloodsugar was so high!

Anyways, he did good - even with all the caos with all the people there!

Caleb, I think should have passed all the belts tests too. He can do the yells, kicks and moves better than all of them.

And he's walking around now.

In other news, we finally joined the minivan brigade. I know, I know, we've talked about it to everyone long before we pulled the trigger. I don't know if there is anyone else out there that does as much research and weighing the options as we do. And I know everyone was probably saying 'why doesn't Scott and Tammy just go buy the dang thing?' Well we did it! And I think we made a good choice.

Life is sure busy.

Week 6 Football Results

2008-10-06T23:25:00.002-06:00

Well the results are in and Utah State actually scored some points versus BYU! Yea, were #1 baby! Look out world, here come the Aggies!
On the week, Newell (my father-in-law) takes the top prize. Jim still leads on the season, but whoooah, look out, here comes Tammy! 2nd place on the week, and on the season (jumping up from 8th last week).
Here are the results.

http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=pGlbc_um5DZEMGIUEQs_wWQ

For next week here are the games:
Utah @ Wyoming
New Mexico @ BYU
Utah State @ San Jose St

week 5 results

2008-09-29T11:14:00.002-06:00

With BYU and USU both on bye weeks, other less familiar teams took their toll on certain people in the standings (myself included). Dex came out of nowhere to take the top spot this week. He was eerily dead on in all three contests. Here are the lastest results:
http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=pGlbc_um5DZHM6Go_WMg7Ew&hl=en
Jim has moved into 1st place on the season, with Jason a close second. I'm down on the list quite a ways.

For next weeks games, Both BYU and USU are back again (playing each other on Friday).
Utah is hosting Oregon State (on Thursday). Yes, its that Oregon State who last week beat #1 USC.
The 3rd game is a choose your high school game. Kearns is at Bingham, or choose Union at Uintah.
Since the games this week are coming up fast (on Thursday), get your picks in quickly.

I think I'm going with BYU over USU by a slight margin 52 to 10.
Utah over Oregon State 34 to 20.
And Bingham over Kearns 34 to 23.

Week 4 Football Results

2008-09-21T10:27:00.002-06:00

Another good week for our local teams, everyone won! How 'bout those Aggies eh! Take it to Idaho! Weren't they ranked or something?
Anyways, this week was a good week for Jeffrey! Only18 points! Way to go, 1st place! On the season Jason pulls into 1st place. Too bad for Tunka, since he didn't participate, that hurt. Bumped him down a bit in the season standings.
http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?hl=en&key=pGlbc_um5DZEKZ4xN0Qc6fw#
Next week we have a bye week for BYU. They'll need the rest too, I'm sure, what with all the competitive games they played the last couple weeks. They could use the extra time to prepare for the Aggies (who also have an extra week to try to find a way to score against BYU)
So next weeks games are:
The big one: Utah hosting Weber State - Coach Mac returns to face off against his protege.
TCU is at Oklahoma
and the 3rd game choose from UNLV hosting Nevada (don't look now, but UNLV is 3-1)
West Jordan @ Bingham (Thursday) or Union hosting Park City.

Hailey must be a true Wardle

2008-09-18T12:53:00.002-06:00

Lately I have been hearing someone talking in the middle of the night. I finally figured it out, that Hailey talks in her sleep. I have been told by two of my sister in laws, Erika and Leslie, that their husbands talk in their sleep. So I guess Hailey takes after the Wardle's in this aspect of life. Oh well, I guess there could be a lot worse traits to have.

Week 3 Football Results

2008-09-14T17:23:00.003-06:00

Congratulations this week to Dad for winning the predictions this week! Here are the results.
http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=pGlbc_um5DZEvwlxdNj5UVw&hl=en
In a week where BYU and Utah looked absolutely dominant, especially BYU, the person with the biggest predicted blowout for BYU wins the whole shebang! Dad predicted a 41 to 17 win over UCLA. That was enough to clinch the victory! On a side note, I'm no longer going to ask the young'uns if they are sure that they think BYU will score 90 points. I don't think that is out of the realm of possibility anymore.
Also, on the year so far, Nick has moved into 1st place with an average finish just under 5th place.
For next weeks games it looks like BYU is hosting Wyoming
Utah is at Air Force
and Utah State has a winnable game vs Idaho

Websites I can't live without

2008-09-10T16:15:00.002-06:00

It just amazes me how much technology really changes the way we live. The internet is really an amazing thing, it replaces so many of the sources we all used to go for things. So I'm dedicating this blog to the websites that I can't live without. Please add more of your favorite sites that I have left out.

For starters, I have to mention Pandora.com. All of the music I like is right there. If I feel like some 'soft' music to listen to at work, or to relax with at home, its there. All I had to do was get it started with a song or artist I like and build from there, giving songs I love a thumbs up or ones I hate a thumbs down. Same thing for a good Rock 'n Roll mix (when I just need to blow off some steam), and if I need some good modern alternative, or flashback to the 80's, I've got it all! My stations are getting to know me pretty well. If you want to share a station with a friend, have something prebuilt for that person to modify as he/she like, you can do that! Now how cool is that?

Then I've got to mention Snopes.com. Have you read the quotes attributed to or seen the list of books banned by Sarah Palin while in office in Alaska? Have you seen the amazing 'supposed' photo of that tornado? Have you heard the claims that this product or the other causes cancer and the FDA is doing nothing about it because they are in this companies back pocket? How about the one about needing to register your cellphone number with the 'Do not call' list because next week all the cellphone numbers are going to be released to the telemarking companies?

Well Snopes.com is there for all of us to check out and verify all these claims that are constantly being circulated around the internet. So if you get one of those emails thats been forwarded ... and forwarded ... and forwarded, that you can't seem to believe, just check it out on Snopes.com. Its probably there.

Have to mention Wikipedia. I'm sure if you are old enough, you'll remember doing book reports on an assigned subject and have to go to the library and get out those encyclopedias to look up and copy the info for your report. Or if you were lucky enough to have encyclopedias at home, you could skip the library and do it at home. Assuming, that is that you can find that dang 'J' volume in your bookcase, after it didn't get returned when your brother was using it to look up something stupid. Its probably still stashed away in a drawer somewhere yet to be found. Of course those encyclopedias were at least 25 years old back then (they are about 50 years old now). I actually had a teacher whose favorite book was the J volume of the encyclopedia (Mr. Deneris, perhaps some of you remember him) Ahh .... another blog for another day. Anyways, Wikipedia, very nice. Has taken over the encyclopedia need very well, I can find out info on just about anything there. And if its not there, Google is there with plenty of info.

How about imdb.com? Have you ever needed to know what that actors name is, or what else has he done? Or what movies is he working on now? Well, imdb.com is there to the rescue, 'nuff said.

O.K. not technically a website, but google earth is something not to be taken lightly. Want to zoom in on Kim Jong Il's pad in North Korea? Go for it! How about seeing what it looks like from the top of the Sears Tower? Want to see what it looks like around where you are going to go on vacation? How about some nearby restaurants? Ever seen the cool stuff they're building in Dubai? You can even load other databases to it to see thing on the map you want to see. Like all the geocaches in the world. Google earth is just amazing. Scary really.

Speaking of geocaches, if you don't know about those, go to geocaching.com and check that out. It can really be a fun family activity or scout activity if you have access to a portable GPS unit and maybe some cheap McDonalds toys. They say its a sport or hobby whereby they use multimillion dollar government satellites to find tupperware in the woods. Lots of good funs things to do with it, like travel bugs. Ask me where my travel bugs have been and where they are now. I've got pics. I'll have to put them on here.

Here's one for all those that like to cook, or just want to get something on the table quickly for dinner while using up some of those thing in your fridge that will go bad soon if you don't use them up quickly. Ever tried out myrecipes.com? I'm sure you've seen the magazines at the supermarket with all those good recipes, Cooking Light, A Taste of Home, Sunset, etc. Well myrecipes.com has put all those thing out there online for you to search. So do you have that red pepper and chicken in your fridge that you need to use up? How about Red pepper Lemon chicken? Do you want to do organize your recipe box? Put that great recipe from your aunt Bonnie in your own recipe section for easy reference on the website. Do you want to add the recipe to you box in your kitchen? Print out the one you found on a 3x5 card. It even lists all the nutrition information. Very useful site!

O.K. this one costs a little for the subscription, but very useful information. I'm talking about consumerreports.org. If you are shopping for a car, a dishwasher or just want to know the best peanut butter to buy, its all there! With more information than you can shake a stick at!

What other sites do you refer to all the time?

Scott's birthday

2008-09-09T08:16:00.002-06:00

Today is Scott's 36th birthday. Wow! It just seems like yesterday that I was meeting the cute returned missionary who was visiting Tucker 21. It's amazing to think that he is now all grown up with a real job and 3 kids. Scott is a great husand, a great father and pretty sexy too. He rides his bike about once a week to stay in shape. So if you see him today, be sure to tell him Happy Birthday.

Week 2 Football Results

2008-09-08T00:14:00.003-06:00

Here are the results from this week
http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=pGlbc_um5DZEvwlxdNj5UVw
Congratulations to Jason! Tunka is leading the season average at this early part in the season with an average finish of 3.5 place!
Quite the games this week, especially BYU - I think they lucked out on that one. Can you believe USU's offense? Putting up 24 points against a very good Oregon team has to count for something, doesn't it?

Put in your week 3 picks now
UCLA @ BYU
UTAH @ USU
and for the 3rd game -- you get to choose between
#5 Ohio St @. #1 USC
Dixie @ Weber St
Jordan HS @ Bingham HS
Union HS @ Salem Hills HS

Good luck!

My predictions -- i'll put myself out there first
UCLA 34 BYU 28
Utah 41 USU 20
Jordan 26 Bingham 34

Hailey's first day of pre-school

2008-09-03T14:38:00.007-06:00

So today was Hailey's first day of school. When I asked her to get dressed, she quickly did so, but she was having a hard time putting on her backpack. When I tried to help her, I noticed that it was extremely heavy. She had about 4 juice boxes, 8 small bags of chips, and 2 packages of fruit snacks. I knew that she had put a couple of these in her backpack, because she sees Jeffrey put these items in his backpack in case he has a low blood sugar, but this was quite a bit more then I thought possible. I had wondered where all the chips had gone, but just figured that the kids had eaten them all as snacks. When I showed Scott, he couldn't even hold all the stash. So now we just have to try to convince her that she doesn't need to bring all that to school with her.

Week 1 Football Predictions

2008-09-01T21:50:00.003-06:00

The first week is in the books, and it was one to be remembered! The Utes taking it to Michigan is one the shouldn't soon forget!
Here are the results from this weeks predictions: Congratulations to Jim! Some great picks there! I believe a Kit Kat is coming your way!
http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=pGlbc_um5DZHKtf91oq-WLA
You'll notice this week that I've included a bonus of 5 points for picking the right winner.

Week 2 Games include:
BYU @ Washington
Utah vs UNLV
USU @ Oregon

Get your picks in soon

Wardle Competitiveness

2008-08-29T16:25:00.002-06:00

After reading my sister-in-law's latest blog, (Erika), I am beginning to fear for the future of my children. What if this is some wierd genetic defect that takes place in Wardle's? My 10 year old son, Jeffrey is very freaked out that another boy in his webelos troop, (who happens to be 3 month's older than Jeffrey), will be getting the final 2 pins that he needs to receive all 20. Jeffrey only has about 4 left, but he wants to be the first one done in his group. Any suggestions on how to overcome this genetic disorder?

Football Season is upon us

2008-08-28T10:14:00.002-06:00

Many of you know of my infactuation with statistics and sports (especially college football). You also might know that I try to get everyone to predict the scores of games each week. Seriously, I've been doing this for as long as I can remember. Long before I knew better, I followed BYU football religiously. I used to pass around my prediction sheets for BYU football games in my classes when I was in middle school, and on up through high school and beyond. Yes, I'm weird, and yes, I'm a geek.
I just had the idea now to use my blog to get more predictions from everyone that wants to participate. Maybe this year I'll even give out a prize to the weekly winner (if and when I see you afterwards). It'll probably be a candybar or something, tell me what you like.
So with that said, the games this week are:
Northern Iowa @ BYU (Sat 4PM),
USU @ UNLV (Sat 8PM),
and Utah @ Michigan (Sat 1:30 PM).
So if you want to participate, give me your score predictions (how many points each team will score). Tell your husband, wife and/or kids to post their predictions also. And what candybar you like if you win. The person with the fewest combined points off in all games wins the loot. I'll post the overall winner each week. I imagine most of the predictions will probably still come offline (at least at first).
Go Aggies!

Jeffrey's now in 5th grade

2008-08-25T22:24:00.002-06:00

Jeffrey is now in 5th grade, and although he has only completed the first 4 weeks, I am feeling overwelmed as his mother. I mean does anyone out there really know who the father of the United States navy is? This is only one of the 100 questions every American should know. I did a lot of book reports over the years in school, but his teacher wants them to be creative. Each month, a different type of book is required, like this month a fantasy book must be read, and the book report is an art and craft activity. So every month we will have to go thru this.
In addition to this, he has spelling words that have nothing to do with his spelling work book, so for once, he has to study these at home. There is also 20 vocabulary definations a week. He also had to know all 43 presidents. I'm sorry, sometimes I feel like I am overwhelmed with all that he has to do and it is not even my homework. So if anyone out there wants to learn about American History, I will make you a copy of his 100 questions. I only hope that I survive the year.

Caleb's First Birthday

2008-08-25T21:50:00.002-06:00

So Caleb had his first birthday recently. We had a small get together with our family. We did the usual Wardle tradition of the baby having their own cake. (I had never heard of doing this until Scott insisted on it for Jeffrey). He made such a mess with the frosting and such. Everyone seemed to have a good time, and now that we have our back yard close to what we have always wanted, patio and fence installed, it ended up being a very nice evening.

Hailey insisted on helping to blow out the candle and open the presents. Caleb loved the attention. We baked the cake for Caleb and the kids and bought a cake from "Nothing Bundt Cake" for the adults. It was so good!!! If you haven't been in that store, I highly recommend it, and this is coming from someone who really doesn't like cake. Anyway, I digress, the party was a lot of fun, even though Hailey was disappointed that I didn't buy ballons and decorate.

Cache County Fair

2008-08-12T21:03:00.005-06:00

So we just got back from the Cache County Fair, and I have to say, it was rather interesting. Jeffrey was pretty stoked that he got $300 for that lamb he sold. If you think that was a lot of money, just go to the Duchesne County Fair. Jeffrey's cousins got $600 and $900 for their lambs, and I'm sure they probably didn't weigh 156 pounds like Jeffreys did. What can I say, Duchesne must just have a few more rednecks with money! Not sure what they will be doing with those lambs, I don't think the meat is worth that much ... never mind, scarry thought!
Just so you know, if you have a farm animal you are raising for sale, don't under any circumstances name the thing! Jeffrey was pretty distraught on the way home when it hit him that he wouldn't be seeing "Spotty" again. He wanted me to find out where that guy lives so he can go see his lamb. Don't really want to get into a discussion with him about the fate of his lamb. Give him a few years. Can anyone say "how are you enjoying your Curly burger, Kristin?"
Hailey had a good time up there also, she got to walk and show off the lamb a bit also, so she enjoyed that. Everyone got a blue ribbon and a couple bucks for their efforts.
Pictures to follow ... when I can find the dang camera!

What would you do for 52 free meals?

2008-05-25T10:00:00.002-06:00

So Jason talked me into camping out with him (in the rain and cold) Thursday night in the parking lot in fronr of the new Chick-Fil-A at the District. I went hesitantly, but ended up having fun.
Apart from making us line up for 'role call' several times that night, and at 5:45 in the morning, when the could have just waited till 6:15 when they finally let us get our meal vouchers, it was worth it. They gave us free nuggets and ice cream and drinks that night, so I was disappointed that that morning, when they had about 30 employees in the store banging pots and pans as we finally walked in, none of them were making us breakfast.
I have to say though, that I was plenty warm all night, what with my -40 or so rated sleeping bag. There were others there with no sleeping bag or tent (they probably stayed inside the store that they kept open for those that had to use the bathroom). I just hope there was no hanky panky going on. And I'm sure I looked just great in the morning as I climbed out of my tent (right in front of the television cameras from KSL).
I ended up playing 4-square with other strangers that were there. I haven't played that since grade school. Of course regular 4-square wouldn't do, we had to change it up a bit and have to use different parts of the body to hit the ball with (knees, head, shoulder, etc).
But all in all, it really was a great experience getting free meals for a year from a restaurant I feel good about supporting. The chicken is great, its fun for the kids, they cater to the customers well, give out plenty of free food, and are not open Sundays. We used to go there all the time to when we lived in Georgia (where it first started).
I should have brought my camera, so sorry no pictures - but you can probably find some on KSL.com or something.

Funny Dilbert numbers joke

2008-05-08T12:35:00.002-06:00

Swimming Lessons

2008-04-26T20:16:00.002-06:00

Jeffrey and Hailey took swimming lessons last summer. Hopefully we will remember to get them signed up again this year. Hailey always ran away and did not want to get her hair wet.

Caleb Jason

2007-08-27T16:39:00.000-06:00

Well, I guess its appropriate to have the 1st entry in this blog to announce the birth of my son, Caleb Jason (CJ). He was born Aug 17th at 1:18, weighing in at 7lbs 7oz and 20 1/2 inches. He even has some hair (brown)! Mother and son both doing well. He is sleeping and eating well and as of a week later he is back up to birth weight I'm sure. His siblings, Jeffrey and Hailey are big helps too.
Pictures will be posted soon.